Attorney General William Barr said he once thought convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein might have died as a result of foul play but has since been convinced that Epstein killed himself.
“I can understand people who immediately, whose minds went to sort of the worst-case scenario because it was a perfect storm of screw-ups,” Barr told the Associated Press in a Friday interview.
Two prison guards were arrested this week for failures to check on Epstein on the day he was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell, strung up by the neck.
“I think it was important to have a roommate in there with him and we’re looking into why that wasn’t done, and I think every indication is that was a screw-up,” the attorney general said. “The systems to assure that was done were not followed.”
Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, where she faced tough criticism about the government’s handling of the Epstein case. “Christmas ornaments, drywall, and [Jeffrey] Epstein — name three things that don’t hang themselves. That’s what the American people think,” Republican Lousiana Sen. John Kennedy told the Sawyer.
Despite Epstein’s death, Barr said the federal government is continuing to investigate those involved. “They are definitely pushing things along,” he said. “I’ll just say there is good progress being made, and I’m hopeful in a relatively short time there will be tangible results.”
